# My Pellet Stove up in Flames



## OldHillcrestGuy

GWguy and Vince my pellet stove caught fire tonight (Fri) and my wife had to call the fire department.  I was at work but somehow the pellet hopper caught fire and it was burning along with fire in the burn pot, our smoke detector went off.  Only thing I can think might have happened for the hopper to catch fire was the augar might have gotten stuck open with a jammed pellet allowing flames to get into the hopper.
 The house is OK  after the fire dept ventilated it, cause the smoke was really coming out just as the fire dept got here, but the stove maybe history Im going by the dealer tomorrow to have someone come and check it out,  its pretty scorched up inside the hopper box and inside the normal burn area.
 I cleaned it 2 days OK, but the burn pot did have quite bit of ash buildup and that may also contributed to the fire as the pellets that were dropping were burning higher up in the burnpot then normal.  Wife was thankful she had just gotten home about 20 miuntes earlier and was here, no telling what may have happened if she hadnt come home when she did.  It never bothered me to go somewhere for hours and have no one home with the stove running, Ill think twice now. 

 Hey Speedy I made some really good time from Marlboro to home after I got the call.


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## toppick08

OldHillcrestGuy said:


> GWguy and Vince my pellet stove caught fire tonight (Fri) and my wife had to call the fire department.  I was at work but somehow the pellet hopper caught fire and it was burning along with fire in the burn pot, our smoke detector went off.  Only thing I can think might have happened for the hopper to catch fire was the augar might have gotten stuck open with a jammed pellet allowing flames to get into the hopper.
> The house is OK  after the fire dept ventilated it, cause the smoke was really coming out just as the fire dept got here, but the stove maybe history Im going by the dealer tomorrow to have someone come and check it out,  its pretty scorched up inside the hopper box and inside the normal burn area.
> I cleaned it 2 days OK, but the burn pot did have quite bit of ash buildup and that may also contributed to the fire as the pellets that were dropping were burning higher up in the burnpot then normal.  Wife was thankful she had just gotten home about 20 miuntes earlier and was here, no telling what may have happened if she hadnt come home when she did.  It never bothered me to go somewhere for hours and have no one home with the stove running, Ill think twice now.
> 
> Hey Speedy I made some really good time from Marlboro to home after I got the call.



Glad everything is ok. Did that call go out between 8 - 9 ish last night?, heard something about possible house fire on the scanner.


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## joedancer

Glad you are okay. How old and what brand is your stove?


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## OldHillcrestGuy

joedancer said:


> Glad you are okay. How old and what brand is your stove?



 It's a Breckwell and has been in use 25 months.


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## OldHillcrestGuy

toppick08 said:


> Glad everything is ok. Did that call go out between 8 - 9 ish last night?, heard something about possible house fire on the scanner.



 Thats correct about 8:50.


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## nanstime

thank god no lasting damage


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## Mousebaby

I'm glad everything was ok!  Thank God nothing really bad happened!   to your wife too!  I know that scared the sh!t out of her!


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## Kain99

That is so scary! Thank God you guys are ok!


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## Larry Gude

*Yikes...*



OldHillcrestGuy said:


> Wife was thankful she had just gotten home about 20 miuntes earlier and was here, no telling what may have happened if she hadnt come home when she did.  It never bothered me to go somewhere for hours and have no one home with the stove running, Ill think twice now.




Terrifying.


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## vraiblonde

OldHillcrestGuy said:


> GWguy and Vince my pellet stove caught fire tonight (Fri)



I misread that as GWguy and Vince caught your pellet stove on fire last night.

Good thing your wife came home when she did - that is a scary thing.  And now I think I will go clean out the ashes from my fireplace.


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## cattitude

We just got another wood stove insert for the upstairs fireplace -- we already have one downstairs.  I'm scared to death to leave them burning when we aren't home.  I'd hate to lose my home but I wouldn't be able to live with the thought of my dear pets being trapped.

Thank God everything worked out okay for your family.


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## GWguy

vraiblonde said:


> I misread that as GWguy and Vince caught your pellet stove on fire last night.


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## GWguy

OldHillcrestGuy said:


> GWguy and Vince my pellet stove caught fire tonight (Fri) and my wife had to call the fire department.  I was at work but somehow the pellet hopper caught fire and it was burning along with fire in the burn pot, our smoke detector went off.  Only thing I can think might have happened for the hopper to catch fire was the augar might have gotten stuck open with a jammed pellet allowing flames to get into the hopper.
> The house is OK  after the fire dept ventilated it, cause the smoke was really coming out just as the fire dept got here, but the stove maybe history Im going by the dealer tomorrow to have someone come and check it out,  its pretty scorched up inside the hopper box and inside the normal burn area.
> I cleaned it 2 days OK, but the burn pot did have quite bit of ash buildup and that may also contributed to the fire as the pellets that were dropping were burning higher up in the burnpot then normal.  Wife was thankful she had just gotten home about 20 miuntes earlier and was here, no telling what may have happened if she hadnt come home when she did.  It never bothered me to go somewhere for hours and have no one home with the stove running, Ill think twice now.
> 
> Hey Speedy I made some really good time from Marlboro to home after I got the call.



Holy Cripes!!!  DEF have someone check out the stove.  I'm thinking if the augur got stuck, the flame would go out in no time from lack of fuel.  Maybe the insulation between the flame box and the hopper wasn't enough, and with the stove running hot it simply ignited the hopper??  Wow.....  I leave mine running 24/7... I'll have to re-think that....

Sorry you had a problem, REALLY glad she caught it before it was a mess.  Thanx for the posting.


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## jaybeeztoo

OldHillcrestGuy said:


> GWguy and Vince my pellet stove caught fire tonight (Fri) and my wife had to call the fire department.  I was at work but somehow the pellet hopper caught fire and it was burning along with fire in the burn pot, our smoke detector went off.  Only thing I can think might have happened for the hopper to catch fire was the augar might have gotten stuck open with a jammed pellet allowing flames to get into the hopper.
> The house is OK  after the fire dept ventilated it, cause the smoke was really coming out just as the fire dept got here, but the stove maybe history Im going by the dealer tomorrow to have someone come and check it out,  its pretty scorched up inside the hopper box and inside the normal burn area.
> I cleaned it 2 days OK, but the burn pot did have quite bit of ash buildup and that may also contributed to the fire as the pellets that were dropping were burning higher up in the burnpot then normal.  Wife was thankful she had just gotten home about 20 miuntes earlier and was here, no telling what may have happened if she hadnt come home when she did.  It never bothered me to go somewhere for hours and have no one home with the stove running, Ill think twice now.
> 
> Hey Speedy I made some really good time from Marlboro to home after I got the call.




Thank goodness your family and home are okay.  That would be very scary.

We had a house fire once.  Mom was cooking tacos and the power went out.  She forgot to turn off the stove.  In the middle of the night, the power came back on the oil on the stove started a kitchen fire.  I will never forget my brother running downstairs screaming THE HOUSE IS ON FIRE.  Could you imagine if he didn't wake up and notice it?  Now, that's a scary thought.

Again, thank goodness your family and home are okay


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## clevalley

Knowing how these work I would imagine a build of of pellet dust got in the chute and up the feed auger...  Was it you that had problems with Pennington's caking up in there right?

My manual says to clean the stove after every ton - and that is a pull of the stove and blow it out to include the auger and feed tube... I do mine after every season as I let my hopper burn down to almost zilch every 1/2 ton and vacuum any dust down there to keep any buildup from happening - this was recommended by the installer.  It has worked so far and I have not had a problem (knock on wood...)  Doing the above, cleaning at the end of the year is a breeze with most of the ash being back behind the heat exchangers - and barely anything in and around the feed system.

I know my QuadraFire has a puck on the feed tube which detects heat... if there is a burn going up the tube it completely shuts off - no fans...  but when it starts to burn in the feed tube all bets are off - technically the shut off will slow the violentness of the burn to allow you to kill it with an extinguisher - theoretically that is...

I am sorry to hear about this - Breckwells are REALLY nice stoves... is it salvageable?

Glad everyone is OK!  That is the most important thing!!!


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## rack'm

toppick08 said:


> Glad everything is ok.


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## jazz lady

Wow, how scary and doubly fortunate your wife came home when she did.  I'm glad everything is okay.


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## OldHillcrestGuy

clevalley said:


> Knowing how these work I would imagine a build of of pellet dust got in the chute and up the feed auger...  Was it you that had problems with Pennington's caking up in there right?
> 
> I am sorry to hear about this - Breckwells are REALLY nice stoves... is it salvageable?
> 
> Glad everyone is OK!  That is the most important thing!!!



 I think your pretty close to what may have happened.  I usually clean the stove at least the main part every 2 days, brush the ash down into ash bin, empty the burnpot of built up ash, brush of the inside walls and clean the glass, I usually do this every other day and at least once a week, I get the vaccum out and do the more extended cleaning, which I had just done 48 hours before.  Yesterday I was busy in the morning and had to go to work in the afternoon and was not able to even do a quick brush job thought Id be good for another day,  Im thinking that the burnpot had filled up with ash and as the pellets dropped and burned they must have burned higher up then usual and the flames started to go up the pellet shoot and caught the pellets in the augar on fire and then further up into the bin
 Went buy the store today and they are coming by on Thursday and check it out, they believe the stove is fixable, said they would check all the safety sensor to see if something failed and something about maybe a blower motor or fan might have gone bad causing it to really heat up.  Im just thinking that some kind of sensor should have kicked off and would have shut down the stove before it got  so severe.   Yes I was the one who wasnt happy with the Pennington pellets and about half of the pellets in the bin were Penningtons and the other half were the Hamars.  The bin was about 3/4's full with pellets.  My son has the same stove and he likes the Pennigtons better then the Hamars,  says they burn less ash, go figure we are both working off the same ton we bought.
 My buddies from HVFD did nice job of not tearing up the stove or house, from what I understand after talking to some of them who were on the call, the smoke was just beginning to start to really roll when they got here another 5 minutes and we may have had considerable smoke damage.
 Im still a believer in the pellet stove and I dont plan to get rid of it.


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## GWguy

OldHillcrestGuy said:


> I think your pretty close to what may have happened.  I usually clean the stove at least the main part every 2 days, brush the ash down into ash bin, empty the burnpot of built up ash, brush of the inside walls and clean the glass, I usually do this every other day and at least once a week, I get the vaccum out and do the more extended cleaning, which I had just done 48 hours before.  Yesterday I was busy in the morning and had to go to work in the afternoon and was not able to even do a quick brush job thought Id be good for another day,  Im thinking that the burnpot had filled up with ash and as the pellets dropped and burned they must have burned higher up then usual and the flames started to go up the pellet shoot and caught the pellets in the augar on fire and then further up into the bin
> Went buy the store today and they are coming by on Thursday and check it out, they believe the stove is fixable, said they would check all the safety sensor to see if something failed and something about maybe a blower motor or fan might have gone bad causing it to really heat up.  Im just thinking that some kind of sensor should have kicked off and would have shut down the stove before it got  so severe.   Yes I was the one who wasnt happy with the Pennington pellets and about half of the pellets in the bin were Penningtons and the other half were the Hamars.  The bin was about 3/4's full with pellets.  My son has the same stove and he likes the Pennigtons better then the Hamars,  says they burn less ash, go figure we are both working off the same ton we bought.
> My buddies from HVFD did nice job of not tearing up the stove or house, from what I understand after talking to some of them who were on the call, the smoke was just beginning to start to really roll when they got here another 5 minutes and we may have had considerable smoke damage.
> Im still a believer in the pellet stove and I dont plan to get rid of it.



Something I had noticed in the past when using the Pennington, when there was a lot of sawdust, it would flare and send up lots of small sparks when it hit the burn pot.  The sparks usually went up the flue and I never even considered that they might go back up the feeder and ignite something.

Sounds like we're all going to be a it more careful after your experience.  Please keep us posted on whatever they find in in the stove, if anything.


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## belvak

Wow! Thank God your wife got home at just the right time. Hope the stove turns out to be okay and I'm really glad there was no permanent damage!


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## OldHillcrestGuy

belvak said:


> Wow! Thank God your wife got home at just the right time. Hope the stove turns out to be okay and I'm really glad there was no permanent damage!



 Thanks


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## clevalley

I would imagine the Breckwell's and QuadraFire's are pretty darn close to safety - It would not turn me off to getting rid of it...

I would say you have an temp puck-sensor on the feed chute and more than likely it might be faulty... like I said, when it reaches a certain temp it kills all power immediately; the only way it can reach this if it flames up into the feed chute.  BUT - it should never burn up the chute - we all know that 

I would bet an unusual 'caking' of dust/powder up in the chute - you know, I never clean up inside of mine... I guess not I will get a reducer to get a small tube to run up in there just incase, it can't hurt...

You may never know what really caused it because if there was a failure, Breckwell tech could easily say it was caused by the fire. :shrug:

Let us know what they say!


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## trilogy

i was thinking about switching from my freestanding wood stove to a pellet stove.now i dont know if i should


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## D1VA

For the most part, thank GOD all is well.


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## GWguy

trilogy said:


> i was thinking about switching from my freestanding wood stove to a pellet stove.now i dont know if i should



This is so far, the only case I am aware of where a pellet stove caught fire.  There are countless cases of wood stoves and flue pipes causing a fire.  Pellet stoves create absolutely no creosote, nothing but non-flammable powdered ash.  Wood stoves had few if any safety measures, pellet stoves have multiple layers of safety devices.  Fuel is in nice clean 40 pound bags, no chopping, splitting stacking (ok, I stack the bags in the garage...), no vermin making nests in your woodpile, you can stack an entire season's worth of pellets in the garage, dry and clean, can't do that with logs.  It's always dry and ready to use, no schlepping outside in the rain to get wet wood.  You fill the pellet stove, turn on the thermostat and walk away.

I will continue to use mine and will never go back to a wood stove.


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## kom526

I did do a pretty thorough cleaning of mine this a.m. before starting it up. I ran the vacuum up the feed chute and was surprised by the amount of dust that I pulled out. I have been using Hamer's since day 1 and will continue to burn them.


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## Vince

OldHillcrestGuy said:


> It's a Breckwell and has been in use 25 months.


So is mine.  Is yours still under warranty?


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## GWguy

kom526 said:


> I did do a pretty thorough cleaning of mine this a.m. before starting it up. I ran the vacuum up the feed chute and was surprised by the amount of dust that I pulled out. I have been using Hamer's since day 1 and will continue to burn them.



I'm finding the Hamer cokes up the pot WAY more often than other brands in my QuadraFire insert.  As much as I hate the Pennington for the sawdust, I could easily go a week without having to clean the pot.  With Hamer, barely 2 days.  I'll try the Lignetics next time and see how they do.


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## OldHillcrestGuy

Vince said:


> So is mine.  Is yours still under warranty?



  No its not under warranty any longer,  had 1 year warranty on just about everything.  I have called the manufacture today and waiting for them to call back they have really good tech support section that I have contacted before with good results.  Im just wondering why there maybe wasnt some kind of safety sensor that should have shut the stove down, if the problem was pellets backing up the shoot and into the bin, and even if the burnpot had filled up with ash and was choked up I thought it was suppose to shutdown.   I was burning Hamar's mixed with Penningtons when it went up in smoke, I had cleaned really good with vacuum about 55 hours before and I thought I was going to be good till Saturday morning when I was going to clean it again. Ive read on here how some of you guys only clean once or twice a week, I usually do it every other day.

 THIS WILL NOT DISCOURGE ME FROM FIXING OR REPLACING MY STOVE, I love the thing.  I will maybe not run it for longer periods of time if Im going out somewhere.
  Last couple of days without the stove going I just hate it when I hear my oil furnace come on, called Becshe today to come out and top off my tank this week my last oil delivery was Oct 30th and if the gauge on the tank is correct its showing my tank to be 3/4th full.  Im on automatic delivery but after I got my stove  and I was using very little oil they put me down for every other time for delivery according to there system of delivery, something about degree days.  When I called today the guy said I was scheule for later this week anyway.  Im hoping for a less then 100 gallon delivery to keep that bill down.


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## OldHillcrestGuy

I miss my stove already.  Besche delivered oil to the house today first time since Oct 30th a total of 91 days, I only used 66 gallons of oil.    and at $2.95 a galllon I want my stove back in operation soon.


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## daisycreek

not sure what brand my dad has but they called him one evening and told him that they were replacing teh augers on all the stoves that they had sold, would they like for someone to come out and replace it for him, he being mechanically inclined told them to just sent it and he would replace it.. if u like i can find out what brand his stove is


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## OldHillcrestGuy

daisycreek said:


> not sure what brand my dad has but they called him one evening and told him that they were replacing teh augers on all the stoves that they had sold, would they like for someone to come out and replace it for him, he being mechanically inclined told them to just sent it and he would replace it.. if u like i can find out what brand his stove is



  That would interesting to know what brand it is.


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## belvak

OldHillcrestGuy said:


> I miss my stove already.  Besche delivered oil today to the house since Oct 30th my last delivery and today a total of 91 days, I only used 66 gallons of oil.    and at $2.95 a galllon I want my stove back in operation soon.



We are on Besche's automatic delivery too. We hadn't gotten oil since early last March and were beginning to think we must be getting very low (we have a 300 gallon tank). They came December 31st and only had to put in 130 gallons. We don't have a pellet stove, but burn our wood stove just about all winter!! Couldn't imagine living without one. Hope everything works out well with your stove!!


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## GWguy

OldHillcrestGuy said:


> I miss my stove already.  Besche delivered oil to the house today first time since Oct 30th a total of 91 days, I only used 66 gallons of oil.    and at $2.95 a galllon I want my stove back in operation soon.



I'm waiting for that.  I haven't used any fuel to speak of this season, maybe 45 minutes total, but I haven't gotten a fuel drop since middle of winter last year when I WAS using the oil burner.  So the delivery I get this season will still be a fairly big one just to fill up from what I used last year... 

It may be a while before they can analyze/fix your stove.  Have you considered getting another in the meantime?


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## OldHillcrestGuy

GWguy said:


> It may be a while before they can analyze/fix your stove.  Have you considered getting another in the meantime?



  I'll know tomorow morning thats when they will be coming.  Its either fix this one or I'll buy a new one.  Its out of warranty, Im maybe hoping if its fixable they will cut me some slack with any parts it may need.:shrug:
  I'd kind of like to clean it up a bit and try it myself to see if it runs but the spouse would proably have a cow.  So I guess its best to let them check it out thoughly.


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## GWguy

OldHillcrestGuy said:


> I'll know tomorow morning thats when they will be coming.  Its either fix this one or I'll buy a new one.  Its out of warranty, Im maybe hoping if its fixable they will cut me some slack with any parts it may need.:shrug:
> I'd kind of like to clean it up a bit and try it myself to see if it runs but the spouse would proably have a cow.  So I guess its best to let them check it out thoughly.



I'm hoping you get lucky.  I'm thinking because it was smoking and not completely up in flames that all of the components/motors/wiring will still be usable.  OH, forgot they probably used water on it...maybe the motors need to be replaced...

Anyway, keep us posted!  Really curious what they have to say on the cause of the fire.


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## OldHillcrestGuy

They used no water to put the fire out, they scooped up the burning pellets from the hopper and put them in a pale and emptied them outside.   My guys at HVFD did a good job of not tearing up the stove, a couple of scratches on top that applaince paint can take care of.


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## Vince

OldHillcrestGuy said:


> They used no water to put the fire out, they scooped up the burning pellets from the hopper and put them in a pale and emptied them outside.   My guys at HVFD did a good job of not tearing up the stove, a couple of scratches on top that applaince paint can take care of.


 Forgot to ask if you stove is freestanding or a fireplace insert?


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## clevalley

daisycreek said:


> not sure what brand my dad has but they called him one evening and told him that they were replacing teh augers on all the stoves that they had sold, would they like for someone to come out and replace it for him, he being mechanically inclined told them to just sent it and he would replace it.. if u like *i can find out what brand his stove is*



I would like to know...


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## OldHillcrestGuy

Vince said:


> Forgot to ask if you stove is freestanding or a fireplace insert?



  Freestanding


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## OldHillcrestGuy

Well they came today for the stove, Im back up and running   to Tri County they did excellent job of cleaning the stove, Ive done a nice Harry Homeowner cleaning about every 2 days, but I was not aware that one of the air chambers behind the stove wall was vertical and not horizontal like the other two are so I never cleaned upward in that chamber and it was pretty clogged up causing very bad airflow.
 They replaced the High Temp shutoff switch which is suppose to shut the stove down when it gets too hot and they replaced the air flow switch which was leaking air but still working.
 The tech suggest you get a good cleaning like they did every 2 tons, thats about once a year.   So for the the price $179 guess its worth it, heck I have my oil furnace cleaned every summer for somewhere around $150 and I hardly use it.
  I got off for just under $250.00 so Im very pleased, it was a good learning experince,  
 Again two thumbs up for TriCounty, they proably could have socked it to me, but they didnt, excellent job.


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## Vince

OldHillcrestGuy said:


> Well they came today for the stove, Im back up and running   to Tri County they did excellent job of cleaning the stove, Ive done a nice Harry Homeowner cleaning about every 2 days, but I was not aware that one of the air chambers behind the stove wall was vertical and not horizontal like the other two are so I never cleaned upward in that chamber and it was pretty clogged up causing very bad airflow.
> They replaced the High Temp shutoff switch which is suppose to shut the stove down when it gets too hot and they replaced the air flow switch which was leaking air but still working.
> The tech suggest you get a good cleaning like they did every 2 tons, thats about once a year.   So for the the price $179 guess its worth it, heck I have my oil furnace cleaned every summer for somewhere around $150 and I hardly use it.
> I got off for just under $250.00 so Im very pleased, it was a good learning experince,
> Again two thumbs up for TriCounty, they proably could have socked it to me, but they didnt, excellent job.


I  have Tri County come out every Spring when I'm done burning.  They yank the stove out of the fireplace and clean everything.  I went out and bought the same vacumm they use to clean with a heavy duty filter on it.


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## GWguy

OldHillcrestGuy said:


> Well they came today for the stove, Im back up and running   to Tri County they did excellent job of cleaning the stove, Ive done a nice Harry Homeowner cleaning about every 2 days, but I was not aware that one of the air chambers behind the stove wall was vertical and not horizontal like the other two are so I never cleaned upward in that chamber and it was pretty clogged up causing very bad airflow.
> They replaced the High Temp shutoff switch which is suppose to shut the stove down when it gets too hot and they replaced the air flow switch which was leaking air but still working.
> The tech suggest you get a good cleaning like they did every 2 tons, thats about once a year.   So for the the price $179 guess its worth it, heck I have my oil furnace cleaned every summer for somewhere around $150 and I hardly use it.
> I got off for just under $250.00 so Im very pleased, it was a good learning experince,
> Again two thumbs up for TriCounty, they proably could have socked it to me, but they didnt, excellent job.



 !!!  Good Deal!  Glad it was easily fixed.


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## OldHillcrestGuy

GWguy said:


> !!!  Good Deal!  Glad it was easily fixed.



 Me Too


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## BBlack

*Pennington (Nature's Heat) Wood Pellets*

Issues have been brought up in this forum about the quality of Pennington Wood Pellets. Concerns have ranged from how well they burn, the amount of ash and clinkers they produce, the presence of long pellets, and an excess of fines or dust in the bag.  The fact that some of you have encountered problems with our pellets is very concerning to us and we would like to work with you to resolve them.

Some background - Pennington has five wood pellet plants in the East and Midwest of the US. The pellet mills in Missouri and Virginia have been in operation for many years and make an excellent product. In the last 12 months, three new pellet mills have been built to help alleviate the pellet shortages from previous years.  We have experienced some quality problems from these plants as they were started up.  Pennington Seed has high standards for all of their products, and we regularly test our wood pellets for ash, length, fines, and BTU.  Despite these tests and our best efforts, it appears some sub-standard pellets from these new plants made it into the marketplace.

If you have recently purchased Pennington Wood Pellets and not satisfied with them, you can contact Customer Service at 1-800-658-0410 or email mauge@central.com.  Please note the lot number on the bag (usually embossed near the top seal of the bag), where and when you bought them, and what the issues are with the product.

Below are some comments concerning other questions raised:

Pellet storage - When possible, store wood pellets inside, out of the weather.  If kept dry pellets can be stored from season to season.  If this is not possible and you must store outside, keep product off the ground to prevent moisture from wicking from below, and cover with a tarp to protect from rain, snow and sun.

Small holes in bags - The small holes along the top seal are added to assist bagging and palletizing of the product during the manufacturing process.  These holes allow air to escape after sealing.  In the absence of these holes, the trapped air would blow-out the seals when product is stacked on a pallet.

Brands - Bio Plus and Nature’s Heat are both manufactured by Pennington.  Nature’s Heat is a new brand launched in 2007 and is meant to replace the older Bio-Plus brand.

Customer Service – Pennington Seed


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## xadiganmay

*Pellet stove fire*



OldHillcrestGuy said:


> GWguy and Vince my pellet stove caught fire tonight (Fri) and my wife had to call the fire department.  I was at work but somehow the pellet hopper caught fire and it was burning along with fire in the burn pot, our smoke detector went off.  Only thing I can think might have happened for the hopper to catch fire was the augar might have gotten stuck open with a jammed pellet allowing flames to get into the hopper.
> The house is OK  after the fire dept ventilated it, cause the smoke was really coming out just as the fire dept got here, but the stove maybe history Im going by the dealer tomorrow to have someone come and check it out,  its pretty scorched up inside the hopper box and inside the normal burn area.
> I cleaned it 2 days OK, but the burn pot did have quite bit of ash buildup and that may also contributed to the fire as the pellets that were dropping were burning higher up in the burnpot then normal.  Wife was thankful she had just gotten home about 20 miuntes earlier and was here, no telling what may have happened if she hadnt come home when she did.  It never bothered me to go somewhere for hours and have no one home with the stove running, Ill think twice now.
> 
> Hey Speedy I made some really good time from Marlboro to home after I got the call.



     ..........................
Wow! We had a similar incident with our New Englander pellet stove. We've used it for 2 winters and it runs 24 hours a day all winter. We never had a problem (other than replacing the motors). Friday night we noticed it seemed smokey on our second floor. It was very windy so we thought that was causing it - until we went to check on it. There was smoke pouring out of the hopper! Somehow the pellets caught fire in the auger tube and were smoldering. We had just filled it a few hours before so the hopper was almost full. We ran around like idiots for a few minutes not knowing what to do! I have a large bird whose cage is near the stove so I was freaking out that the smoke would kill him! (I moved his cage into another room). We tried to empty out the pellets but meanwhile the smoke alarms were blaring and there was smoke everywhere! We ran and got our shop vac to quickly suck out the hopper. When it was empty it kept smoking from all of the pellets still in the auger tube so we ended up pouring water in to put it out. What a nightmare.
     A few hours later it was dried out - we turned it on and it's working fine. However, now I'm scared that it could happen again!! I don't know why or how it happened! We used to leave the stove running even if we were out. I'm afraid to do that now! Imagine if we hadn't been home! Anyone know WHY this happened?
                   Mary


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## kom526

Sawdust build up in the auger? My Quadra-Fire recommends a thorough cleaning (hopper, auger and firepot) for every ton of pellets burned. No matter what brand of pellets you burn you are going to get sawdust build up somewhere in your stove. Replacing motor(s) after 2 winters?

Clean the stove more often and maybe consider a change in pellets. You may also want to find a technician to come and check the stove to make sure all your safety switches are operating properly.


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## Vince

kom526 said:


> Sawdust build up in the auger? My Quadra-Fire recommends a thorough cleaning (hopper, auger and firepot) for every ton of pellets burned. No matter what brand of pellets you burn you are going to get sawdust build up somewhere in your stove. Replacing motor(s) after 2 winters?
> 
> Clean the stove more often and maybe consider a change in pellets. You may also want to find a technician to come and check the stove to make sure all your safety switches are operating properly.


I have mine done after every winter, but I go through about 2 ton of pellets before I have it done.


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## morningbell

OldHillcrestGuy said:


> GWguy and Vince my pellet stove caught fire tonight (Fri) and my wife had to call the fire department.  I was at work but somehow the pellet hopper caught fire and it was burning along with fire in the burn pot, our smoke detector went off.  Only thing I can think might have happened for the hopper to catch fire was the augar might have gotten stuck open with a jammed pellet allowing flames to get into the hopper.
> The house is OK  after the fire dept ventilated it, cause the smoke was really coming out just as the fire dept got here, but the stove maybe history Im going by the dealer tomorrow to have someone come and check it out,  its pretty scorched up inside the hopper box and inside the normal burn area.
> I cleaned it 2 days OK, but the burn pot did have quite bit of ash buildup and that may also contributed to the fire as the pellets that were dropping were burning higher up in the burnpot then normal.  Wife was thankful she had just gotten home about 20 miuntes earlier and was here, no telling what may have happened if she hadnt come home when she did.  It never bothered me to go somewhere for hours and have no one home with the stove running, Ill think twice now.
> 
> Hey Speedy I made some really good time from Marlboro to home after I got the call.




   I didn't catch where is was but there was a fire in a shed due to a pellet stove, misuse or unattended? I heard it on 97.7,  the second one I have heard of in 1 week.


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## GWguy

2 to 3 times during the season, I do a very complete vacuum job which includes the auger tube.  At the end of the season, I pull the stove (QuadraFire insert) out from the fireplace, clean all the normal stuff, then open all access ports, motor covers, vents, and exhaust and give it a complete going over.  I even clean the chimney tube.  You'd be surprised how much ash gets caught in there and at the cap on the top.


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## Vince

GWguy said:


> 2 to 3 times during the season, I do a very complete vacuum job which includes the auger tube.  At the end of the season, I pull the stove (QuadraFire insert) out from the fireplace, clean all the normal stuff, then open all access ports, motor covers, vents, and exhaust and give it a complete going over.  I even clean the chimney tube.  You'd be surprised how much ash gets caught in there and at the cap on the top.


Yeah, I've got to get my chimney done along with the stove this year.  I didn't think it produced enough ash to accumulate in the flue.  :shrug:


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## xadiganmay

kom526 said:


> Sawdust build up in the auger? My Quadra-Fire recommends a thorough cleaning (hopper, auger and firepot) for every ton of pellets burned. No matter what brand of pellets you burn you are going to get sawdust build up somewhere in your stove. Replacing motor(s) after 2 winters?
> 
> Clean the stove more often and maybe consider a change in pellets. You may also want to find a technician to come and check the stove to make sure all your safety switches are operating properly.



    I think you are right about the sawdust! As soon as I read your reply I remembered emptying a bag of pellets into the hopper and there was some sawdust that got poured in with the pellets at the bottom of the bag. I saw it go in but it disappeared into the pellets. I didn't think much of it - I should have!! We regularly vaccuum out the whole unit so I couldn't think of any other reason! Thanks! I'll be more careful!
Mary


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## OldHillcrestGuy

xadiganmay said:


> I think you are right about the sawdust! As soon as I read your reply I remembered emptying a bag of pellets into the hopper and there was some sawdust that got poured in with the pellets at the bottom of the bag. I saw it go in but it disappeared into the pellets. I didn't think much of it - I should have!! We regularly vaccuum out the whole unit so I couldn't think of any other reason! Thanks! I'll be more careful!
> Mary



 What brand of pellets are you using?  All bags have some sawdust at the bottom.
 When my stove caught fire in the hopper, my thoughts were that the fire burned up the pellet shoot and then caught the pellets in the augar, which then caught the hopper on fire, which was about 2/3rds full at the time, it was hot enough with fire in the hopper to melt the handle to the lid to the hopper.
 I had Tri County come out after the fire and they checked out the stove and replaced a couple of sensors of which one had malfunctioned and should have shut down the stove before the fire spread to the hopper.
 About 10 days ago I dumped a bag of pellets in the hopper and later the next day the stove shut down, thinking the augar got jammed with pellets I emptied out the hopper and I found  what looked like rubber matting jammed in the augar about the size of those rubber squares that you can open a jar lid with, pulled it out and started up the stove again and it wouldnt feed any pellets, stuck a finger up the pellet shoot and felt more rubber had to get needle nose pliers and gently pulled on  what I could get a hold of and was able to get it all out, stove is working fine now.
 I have had a very interesting year with my stove, but I still stand by it, but after the fire we sometimes  shut it off if we are going to be away for quite awhile.


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## GWguy

OldHillcrestGuy said:


> I have had a very interesting year with my stove,



Boy, you're not kidding !!! 

There is a rubber gasket on the hopper door on mine.  It managed to get loose and I found it wrapped around the auger too.  Took a while to get it out.


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## OldHillcrestGuy

GWguy said:


> Boy, you're not kidding !!!
> 
> There is a rubber gasket on the hopper door on mine.  It managed to get loose and I found it wrapped around the auger too.  Took a while to get it out.



 I thought maybe this piece of rubber might have come from the stove from somewhere, so I took it by Tri County and  they said it wasnt anything from the stove, so it had to come from the pellet bag and it wasnt a Hamer or Lignestic bag I was using, it was the other brand   that I have had issues with.


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